Valorant screen tearing can significantly hinder your gameplay experience when it happens. In such a fast-paced game, it's essential that you have an accurate view of what's happening. It can literally be the difference between winning and losing.
If you've been experiencing screen tearing, then you'll probably want to know how to fix it. And that's what we intend to help you with today, because we're nice like that.
How To Fix Valorant Screen Tearing
You'll have a fairly good idea of whether you're suffering from screen tearing by taking a quick look at what's happening on your screen.
If you start to notice distortions, or what are known as "visual artefacts" - essentially, something that shouldn't be there - then there's a high likelihood that you are suffering from screen tearing.
We'll explain a little more about screen tearing below. But before we do, here are the most likely remedies to your problem.
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Turn On VSync
Having VSync disabled is a common cause of screen tearing on Valorant. VSync works to synchronise the refresh rate of your monitor with the refresh rate of your GPU.
Many people switch off VSync because it can have the side-effect of increasing input lag, another undesirable issue on a game like Valorant. But if screen tearing is rendering the game unplayable, then slightly higher lag may be the lesser of two evils.
You can turn on VSync in-game as follows:
- Go to Settings > Video > Graphics Quality, and set VSYNC to ON
Turn Off Limit FPS Always
If you have Limit FPS turned on, it can cause a conflict with VSync. So switching this off may resolve your screen tearing trauma.
- Open Valorant, then go to Settings.
- Click on Video.
- Set the display mode to Fullscreen.
- You'll see a list of Limit FPS options. Turn them all Off.
- Finally, go to Graphics Quality and check for VSync. If it's off, then toggle it on. If it is already on, toggle it off, then on. Then restart the game.
Change Your Refresh Rate
It might be worth changing your graphics settings to allow for higher refresh rates. Doing this is also fairly simple:
- Open Settings, then click System.
- Go to Display and click Advanced display settings
- Click Display adapter properties for Display 1 (or whichever display you'll be gaming on)
- Click on the Monitor tab
- Under Monitor Settings, use the drop-down menu to select the desired refresh rate
- Click OK, and then test your settings
You can play around with these settings to see how they affect your screen tearing issues until you find whatever setting works best for you.
Restore NVIDIA 3D Settings
Sometimes, your problems can be caused by an issue with the 3D settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel. Obviously this won't apply if you don't have an NVIDIA graphics card. But if you do, you can try to resolve this as follows:
- Open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Go to Manage 3D Settings.
- Turn off Low Latency Mode and Max Frame Rate.
- Click on the drop-down menu next to Vertical sync.
- Select Use the 3D application settings.
- Click Apply.
Change Your Power Settings
A final option, which works especially well if you are suing a gaming laptop, is to change the power settings. Laptops will often automatically adjust power as the battery level drops. This includes reducing performance levels, which can, in turn, lead to screen tearing.
- Press Windows + R to open the Run box.
- Type Powercfg.cpl in the box and press Ok.
- In the Power Options menu, click on Show additional options.
- Select High Performance.
- Restart your computer to allow the changes to take effect.
Doing this will remove any limits that are being applied, and allow your processor to run at full capacity.
If nothing seems to be working, then it may be worth submitting a support ticket to the Valorant support team.
What Is Screen Tearing?
Screen tearing is an irritating problem that happens when your monitor and your GPU are out of sync. When one refreshes at a different rate to the other, it can lead to a new image being displayed before the old one has finished rendering.
As the new image starts to appear, it can look as though your screen is tearing, hence the name.
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Screen tearing in some cases is just mildly irritating. It can certainly interrupt your immersion, and in extreme cases, can make it really difficult to play your game. And as we said earlier, in a game such as Valorant, where a split-second can decide who wins, this can be critical.
So try the solutions we've listed above, as these as the most effective ways to resolve screen tearing in Valorant.